Five morning rituals to positively charge you

Getty Images via Harper's Bazaar UK

We've all heard the question, "did you get up on the wrong side of the bed?" The ancient Romans were actually very careful to always to get up on the correct side of the bed to ensure that good luck would follow them through their days. The myth goes that if they got up 'left foot forward' or 'on the wrong side of the bed', they believed that they would be unlucky. Modern life allows no time for sluggish, grumpy mornings and a few simple rituals can help you to set up the tone for the rest of the day, and be more productive and efficient.

Here are five steps to prepare you for an energy-filled day:

1. Replace your boring alarm tone with a cheerful song

Isn't it much more fun to wake up listening to your favourite song instead of a noise that means nothing to you? Music has an instant ability to lift your mood and it is one of the most powerful neurobiological tools we have to change our mindset and behaviour. Scientists have found that listening to particularly happy or sad music changes the way we perceive the world. So start the day listening to a song like Bill Withers' 'Lovely Day' to create a self-fulfilling prophecy. Don't be shy about your music choice, not even Beyoncé is cool at 6am. And remember to keep your playlist updated as your brain needs constant and new stimulation to keep the neurones firing.

2. Have a mental shower

If the idea of sitting still for 20 minutes to meditate does not appeal to you, I have good news: just 10–20 seconds of conscious breathing can have a calming effect on your nervous system. The key is to slip out of automatic pilot and seek awareness in whatever you are doing. You can be present and focus your attention when having your shower, washing your face, or even brushing your teeth. Training your mind to be still in the present is a skill you can develop. A great start is not to wonder about what has happened or overthink the millions of things you have ahead of you.

Start doing this for a couple of minutes and very soon you will be able to be more comfortable with meditation.Taking the time to focus 'in the now' will improve your ability to concentrate and see things more clearly.

3. Reaffirm yourself

Self-belief and inner confidence are the best accessories – they transform the average look into an extraordinary aura. Affirmations that you repeat to yourself in front of the mirror will reflect the energy that you vibrate to the world. I've listed my favourite sayings so you can pick which most resonates with you:

"The positive advantage is always mine."

"My personality is radiant with confidence, certainty and optimism."

"My attitude grows happier and healthier every single day."

"Success and achievement are natural outcomes to me."

"I have a magnetic and dynamic personality."

4. Meet Matcha

The drink of the Samurais, Matcha gives you a gentle kick and takes down your usual coffee. Matcha tea has a mega dose of antioxidants (one cup is the equivalent of 10 cups of regularly brewed green tea). It is a powerhouse of nutrients and minerals like selenium, zinc and magnesium. It boosts metabolism, detoxifies naturally, calms the mind, enhances mood and aids concentration. Science has recently confirmed that a rare amino acid found in Matcha, called L-Theanine, promotes a state of relaxed alertness and helps memory and learning ability, while inhibiting any possible side-effects from caffeine, a natural component of green tea. It's green energy without the jitters.

5. Move

Cardio exercise makes your heart muscles stronger and more resilient to cope with challenges. Plus the endorphins released make you happy. Spending hours in the gym is not realistic, but 27 minutes of continuous exercising is when the magic starts to happen. So take half an hour to run outside, do a spinning class, or a HIIT workout.

The key is to find activities that bring you joy. Pushing yourself in a torture machine is not a positively charged way to start the day!

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Add shredded coconut, turmeric, cinnamon, ginger, black pepper, and cardamom to food processor or high-speed blender. Blend, scraping down sides as needed, until a paste forms. The texture should feel like a dough.

Add maple syrup, coconut oil, vanilla, and sea salt. Mix again until well incorporated. Taste and adjust flavor as needed

Using a tablespoon, scoop out 1 Tbsp. amounts and firmly pack with fingers. Then push a finger on down the edge of the Tablespoon to scoop it out of the tablespoon, leaving a half-moon shape.

Reform into a small disc if it loses shape.

Lay bites down on parchment-lined baking sheet. Continue until all coconut is used - about 20 bites. Then transfer to refrigerator or freezer to chill.

In the meantime, melt chocolate and coconut oil over a double boiler.

Use spoon to drizzle chocolate over the top of each macaroon, then pop in refrigerator or freezer to set for 5 minutes.

Let set at room temperature until chocolate is hardened (or to speed setting, pop back in refrigerator or freezer). Peel away from parchment and transfer to serving platter.

Leftovers will keep covered at room temperature for several days, or in the freezer up to 1 month.

We are very grateful for all guests who brought beautiful energy to our event and enjoyed food for thought in a Brazilian way.

I will be sharing the recipes and content of the Supercharged Mind presentations here for the ones who were enjoying the sunshine in London on Saturday.

Special thanks to the wonderful partners who kindly provided us with the ingredients for the recipes and a very generous goodie bag: Rude Health, Clearspring, Vita Coco, Ombar, Amaçai, Linwooods, Positivitea.

We hope to see you next time and let me know what you think of this very indulgent plantastic recipe!

Raw Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

Base

1 ½ cups almond or coconut chips

1 cup. Raisins (or chopped figs) or dates, chopped

2 tbsp. coconut oil, melted (we used Vita Coco)

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/8 tsp. Himalayan salt

Cake Filling

2 avocados

100g-cacao powder

125g-coconut sugar

80g coconut oil, melted ( we used Vita Coco)

50g lucuma

½ sachet of coconut cream or 100g-coconut mana

1.5 cups of almond milk ( we used Rude Health)

Pinch of Himalayan salt

Directions

Base

Blend all ingredients together and press into a spring form cake tin.

Cake Filling

Blend the avocados until smooth, then add all the other ingredients and blend together in a food processor. Pour mixture over the base and leave to set in the fridge. Decorate with fresh berries, cacao nibs etc.

It's easier and more fun than you think! Do it for yourself, for the others and the Planet.

Lightness inside out guaranteed!

#EarthDay is this Friday, 22nd April.

Let me know how you feel, it is only one day, I guarantee you can survive it and hopefully be more conscious about the amount of of animal protein you consume #TRY

Some interesting facts from Cowspiracy:

Use your social media power and join the movement of millions of people who are vegan for the environment! Why? Each person who switches to a vegan diet saves 1,100 gallons of water, 45 pounds of grain, 30 sq ft of forested land, and 20 lbs CO2 equivalent per day. Let's see how many resources we can save in 30 days!

Here are just seven reasons why it makes sense to go vegan for the environment:

Rainforest Destruction - Animal agriculture is the leading cause of rainforest destruction. It’s responsible for up to 91% of Brazilian Amazon destruction, for example.

Water Consumption - 55% of water consumption in the US goes to raising animals for food. 1 hamburger uses the water equivalent of 2 months worth of showers, 477 gallons of water are needed for 1 pound of eggs, and 1,000 gallons of water are used to produce 1 gallon of milk.

Water Pollution – The leading cause of all fresh water pollution is the animal agriculture industry. It’s also the leading cause of ocean dead zones and Great Barrier Reef die-off.

Wildlife Protection – What’s the leading cause of species extinction, habitat destruction, and wildlife culling? Yes, it’s the livestock industry. For instance, 2.7 million wild animals were killed in 2014 by the United States Department of Agriculture. The majority were to protect the livestock industry, and the killings including 580 black bears, 305 cougars, 322 wolves, 796 bobcats, 2,932 foxes, 61,702 coyotes.

World Hunger - Livestock consumes up to 50% of all grains. This is simply a tragic and inefficient waste of food.

Efficient Land Use - 45% of the entire earth's ice free land goes to animal agriculture.

(NB: I’m not an enlightened Yoga Instructor, I am just a passionate storyteller who loves sharing my lifestyle hacks)

WHO: Na+

Once a burned-out luxury PR Director, I am now true to myself and cultivate inner-peace

WHAT the practice brought me:

Joy

Balance

Inner-strength

Lightness

Confidence

Self-believe

Kindness

Clarity

Love

WHY NOT?

I am not going to lie, it took me few attempts and a couple of years to tick the list above - and to be honest, the exciting thing is that you never stop evolving on your mat. Always a new challenge ahead of your practice, just like life

The key learning that you can take from my experience is to keep trying until you find a fun studio and instructor that resonates with you, then my SuperCharged friend, just go with the flow.

With time things that are not in line with your greatest self will start dropping (energy draining relationships, unfulfilling jobs, crap food) and you will be free to have an extraordinary existence!

#NAMASTE

And watch this funny video, it is definitely more convincing than my words!

When I controlled my addition for sugar I became a sweeter person. It's a fact, when you are in charge of your emotional state you welcome happiness into your life and consequently become a more joyful person to be around!

It may sound contradicting specially as we believe that "we are what we eat" so if I have heaps of medoj dates I will become deliciously creamy, intensely sweet and irresistibly soft. God, who does not want that, right?!

Please do not get me wrong, I absolute love dates and understand all the nutritious benefit of occasionally have few of these nectar of oasis. However, at the time I replaced my daily chocolate bar for tons of raw cacao balls I definitely gained vitamins, antioxidants, healthy fats, but in terms of sugar ingestion I was replacing six by half-dozen.

And here comes the simple explanation: "We are what we are capable of digesting". Without bothering you with all the intriguing details, the way the body breaks down complex carbs, refined sugars and natural sugars is the same. It transforms into a simpler molecule that can be quickly used as energy essential to make your systems working.

In simple terms, the destiny of sugar is to be reduced to glucose and we are all familiar with the effects of the spikes of glucose in our body: immediate feeling of happiness, crash and then intense craving for more. A vicious circle that justify your addition and explain mood swings.

The good news is that you should not bring yourself down for not having control over your candy addition as your body is biologically programmed to be constantly asking you for more. But now that you are aware of it, it's time to regain control of your mind.

I do not support the idea of quitting sugar unless you have a serious health challenge like a growing tumour or a severe case of bacteria grow like candida. As these bad boys thrive on sugar, in a very logical way if you don't feed them they won't grow - of course you will also have to support your immune system in many other ways to overcome any health issue, but controlling the ingestion of sugar is definitely a key step.

The reason I say "controlling the ingestion of sugar" is because people have demonised the sweet things, but that is probably because they forgot the brain needs glucose to function.

So here are my recovery steps to support you conquering Mount Marshmallow:

- Schedule Sugar: plan ahead when you have your "fix". I normally have fruits for breakfast 2/3 times a week and a healthy desert on the weekends. Commit to what is sustainable for you and have discipline to stick to it and gradually reduce your intake.

- Exercise 3-5 times a week to get your endorphins and dopamine flowing. They are the hormones that brings you sense of happiness and reward. Please do choose an activity you enjoy, have fun and make it a habit.

- Detox the mind: get rid of toxic thoughts and people that do not serve you and take you out of balance and straight to that ice cream pot. Meditation is like a mental shower, so if you are new to it I strongly recommend trying the app Headspace, it has transformed my life.

- Include more naturally sweet vegetables in your diet like sweet corn, sweet potatoes, raw bell peppers and carrots. Stevia is also a life saving herb.

Last but not least: learn how to love yourself more than you love sugar. That is the not so straight forward one, but actually definitely the most important. You need to constantly remind yourself how awesome you are, manage your internal language, be kind towards yourself,celebrate your achievements and be conscious that simple steps and daily choices is what makes us.

This time of the year in Northern Hemisphere everyone (except a few Jon Snows out there) craves warmth so I thought it could be useful to offer advice on how to spice it up this winter - do not get too excited, this is food oriented post!

Chili pepper is a fantastic way of naturally stimulate your body to produce heat as it increases energy expenditure and burns fat. When consumed in excessive amounts, the side effect you already know: the sweat running off on your forehead and a burning tongue.

THANKFUL THURSDAY 🙏
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Be Thankful 🙏🏻
Be thankful that you don’t already have everything you desire.
If you did, what would there be to look forward to?🙏🏼
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Be thankful when you don’t know something,
for it gives you the opportunity to learn.🙏🏽
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Be thankful for the difficult times.
During those times you grow.🙏🏾
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Be thankful for your limitations,
because they give you opportunities for improvement.🙏🏿
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Be thankful for each new challenge,
because it will build your strength and character.🙏
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Be thankful for your mistakes.
They will teach you valuable lessons.🙏🏻
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Be thankful when you’re tired and weary,
because it means you’ve made a difference.🙏🏼
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It’s easy to be thankful for the good things.
A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who
are also thankful for the setbacks 🙏🏾
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Gratitude can turn a negative into a positive.
Find a way to be thankful for your troubles,
and they can become your blessings.🙏🏿
~Author Unknown .
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📷 @jake_paul_white #tbt
#grateful #gratitude #thanks #thankyou #thankful #thursday #mindful #mindfulness #happiness #life